European discovery of the River Murray system: Sturt and Gawler go up river to the North West Bend

The main purpose of this exploration was to explore the area north-west of present day Morgan. In the course of doing so the men suffered greatly from lack of water, and one of the men, Henry Bryan, became lost and died. The expedition included several women, who it was anticipated would derive 'much pleasure' from the river section of the journey. The party set out fromAdelaide on 22 November 1839, and returned on the 28 December 1839. Sturt's account of the expedition was published in the South Australian Register on 4 January 1840.

Governor Gawler reported on the country along the length of the lower Murray. This was described as

...not merely as a scientific description of that most interesting portion of our territories, but as a faithful account of the agricultural and pastoral capabilities of that district...